


Cozy

by Squishy_TRex



Series: The Words Between [4]
Category: Mission: Impossible (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pining, Pre-Relationship, these boys deserve a little rest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-13
Updated: 2018-09-13
Packaged: 2019-07-11 17:28:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15977036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Squishy_TRex/pseuds/Squishy_TRex
Summary: snugly warm and comfortable





	Cozy

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by me recently watching Forbidden Planet, that glorious interview with Simon Pegg about Benji's Tinder profile, and how much rest these two deserved after the end of MI: Fallout.

In an unusual turn of events, Benji awoke from slumber not with a pained shout from another nightmare, but quietly, to the peaceful atmosphere of his flat. Blinking the dregs of sleep from his eyes, awareness came back to him in pieces. He was slumped upright on his faded grey couch, a firm weight pinned against his right side and old wool blanket pooled at his feet. The room was still mostly cast in darkness – dawn probably hours away – with the only light emanating from the TV directly in front of him.

As Benji’s vision focused, he could see that Forbidden Planet was still playing on the screen, volume too low to hear anything, but it had to be close to the end by the way Leslie Nielsen and Walter Pidgeon were arguing. The film was an old favorite of Benji’s when he was younger; he could recall hours of his childhood spent trying to build his own version of Robby the Robot. Probably helped to account for his lifelong love affair of tech of all kinds. It’d been ages since he’d last seen it but the fog of his sleep-addled mind kept him from remembering why it was on now. 

Brow furrowed, he mentally pushed that question aside in favor of attempting to get up so he could shut off the film and maybe go back to sleep. Attempting was the key word, however, because once Benji decided on moving forward, only half of him did so. A frustrated noise escaped him as he tugged on his right arm to no avail. He then shifted just enough to turn and use all of his (limited) bodily strength to forcibly push away whatever was keeping him trapped on the couch, but stopped short when he saw what (or rather, who) was responsible. 

The one and only Ethan Hunt, sound asleep against Benji like he was the world's most comfortable pillow. 

Other than his very audible swallow, Benji was struck dumb by the sight. He bit his lip as he soaked in as much of this impossible vision as he could.  He already considered Ethan the most beautiful person he'd ever seen (bit biased if he was forced to admit), but like this - calm and relaxed, with those charming crows feet and other lines faded to give his face a lighter expression, body slumped in a more vulnerable position than Benji could ever imagine seeing - he was beyond gorgeous. 

And after a few seconds of openly gawking, he remembered the events of last night that led to this scene. After Kashmir and Ethan learning every last detail of what happened to everyone, he'd invited himself over to Benji's every day for the last week. They did all sorts of things - talked, made dinner, watched movies, even managed one round of Halo two nights ago. Benji allowed himself a half-smile at the memory of learning that there was at least something he was better at than Ethan. 

But he'd never stayed over. Not until tonight. It was...it was the kind of thing that only happened in the sweetest dreams Benji didn't seem capable of anymore. He felt his face heat up at the thought and carefully steered his gaze back towards the TV. Right now, with everything they'd been dealing with, his fervent crush on Ethan seemed even more inconvenient than usual. Like very other time the feeling fiercely cropped up, Benji pushed it deep down and instead focused on how lucky he was to have Ethan in his life at all. He used his free hand to briefly brush across his neck; the ligature marks had mostly faded, but the fear remained, though it was starting to lose its hold on Benji thanks to both pure resolve and being continually caught in Ethan's orbit. 

He had long since given up on guessing what the future held, but right now, he could safely say both of them needed this: a peaceful moment of rest between two people who'd seen the best and worst of each other and still stuck around. No matter how far Benji's feelings for Ethan extended, this would always be enough for him; more than he ever expected, really. 

Carefully, at the only angle he could manage in his position, Benji grabbed the blanket off the floor and awkwardly draped it over the two of them.  Relaxing back into the sofa, conscientious about his proximity to Ethan, he let himself drift back off to sleep, his final thoughts those of thankfulness that, among all the chaos of their lives, this moment could exist. 

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while since I've added to this series, thanks to life kind of hitting me like a freight train and I being unsure of what to do with this piece, but it's September and fall is in the air and I'm feeling good so screw it, here it is. I still laBn on writing for this series, hopefully on a more regular schedule, but I'm also doing the femslash exchange and am kind of (a lot) in love with Benji and Ilsa's dynamic in MI: Fallout so expect some fic focused on them in the (hopefully near) future. Maybe even some Benji/Ethan/Ilsa...(feel free to talk to me about how MI: Fallout deepened that relationship, I'm pretty much obsessed). 
> 
> As always, you can also find me at my [tumblr](http://the-woman-upstairs.tumblr.com/), where I make and reblog plenty of Mission Impossible posts.


End file.
